


Bug Buzz

by Lissamel



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: At the end anyway, Bugs & Insects, But if you're reading this I assume you played the game, Fluff, Gen, How Do I Tag, Spoilers, yeah I don't know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 05:30:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9221054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lissamel/pseuds/Lissamel
Summary: Guzma and bugs, of all varieties.





	

“‘Ey, boss!”

The boss of Team Skull, Guzma, had his tongue sticking out. He was scrubbing off some dirt from his precious Golisopod, grumbling to himself about the battle he’d just recently lost, muttering about how he was gonna ‘beat ‘em down’ the next time he saw them. He only looked up from his Pokémon when the grunts, two females, called for him again. His lip curled into a sneer as he turned away from Golisopod, slumping in his chair, eyelids half-lowered to look at the grunts. “Whadaya think you’re doin’, interruptin’ me like that? Oughta’ beat you guys down as well!”

“No, no, boss, it’s  _ important. _ ” Insisted the grunt on the right, to which the one on the left enthusiastically nodded. “See, we’re makin’ our rounds, causin’ trouble, and what do we find? Some sightseer all th’ way from  _ Kalos _ ! Feedin’ ‘er Pokémon some of those prissy Poké Puffs!”

“They looked  _ soooo good _ …” Said the other grunt with a small, dreamy sigh.

The grunt on the right elbowed the grunt on the left, and she gave a little frown, rubbing her ribs. “So like I was  _ sayin’ _ ,” The grunt shot a glare to her rib-rubbing companion, and she shot a glare back at her, “We scared ‘er off without too much fuss, and we gotcha’ somethin’ as well! Somethin’  _ real _ cool!”

Guzma rose an eyebrow, shifting in his chair, leaning forward. “After all that build-up, grunts, it  _ better _ be real cool. C’mon, don’t leave your boss hangin’.  _ Show me! _ ”

The grunt nodded, pausing to feel around her waistline for a shiny black Luxury Ball. With a smile (though it was had to see from behind her bandanna), she gently tossed the ball to the floor. There was a glow of light, and then a Pokémon appeared: a winged insect, with cute little squares in it’s eyes and antennae on it’s head. But it’s truly outstanding feature was it’s wings; a shade of pink, tinged with darker pink, black, and blue-green. The Pokémon fluttered it’s wings in nervousness, and some flecks of square-shaped dust came off of the wings and floated to the ground.

“It’s a Vivillon!” Both grunts announced, before the grunt on the left took over the explanation. “It’s, like, wings change based on it’s  _ climate _ ! There’s, like, I think twenty known patterns of these things, and this one’s, um, I think it’s the ‘meadow’ pattern. But there’s, like, there’s a whole  _ bunch _ of cool-lookin’ ones, like ‘modern’ and ‘elegant’ and ‘monsoon’, and oh, yeah, there’s these  _ really _ rare ones. ‘Pokéball’ and ‘fancy’, they call ‘em, and…” The grunt’s explanation trailed off as she looked at the expression on her boss’s face, blinking once or twice.

He was completely  _ awestruck _ .

“ _ Twenty patterns _ , y’said?” Both of the grunts nodded, and Guzma jumped up from his chair. “Well, then, I want  _ all twenty! _ Forget about all’a them Butterfree an’ Beautifly, this has  _ got _ to be the  _ prettiest _ lookin’ bug I’ve ever laid my eyes on! They strong, too?”

Both of the grunts blinked, and the one on the right coughed a bit. “Well, it’s abilities...It can either stop moves having additional effects--flinching, paralysis, whatever--” (Guzma smiled a bit wider,) “Or it can bump up the accuracy of it’s attacks,” (Guzma’s eyes were practically shining,) “An’ for attacks...It can stir up winds to make hurricanes, an’ sap energy with a lil’ kiss, and it’s even got this special powder  _ only _ Vivillon have that make fire moves blow up in the Pokémon’s face!” The grunt paused, looking over for Guzma’s approval.

The boss let out a laugh of amazement. “A bug that’s pretty  _ and _ tough! I love it!” He looked back to his two grunts, crossing his arms and putting on a giant smile. “How’s about I cut’cha a deal? You two fetch me all twenty patterns of these Vivillon, an’ I’ll make the two’a you into  _ admins  _ of our good ‘ole Team Skull! You’ll get to boss everyone else around, since ya’ did somethin’ real good for your boy, Guzma! So whadaya say?”

The two grunts looked at each other, with a look that made it clear neither of them knew what they were getting into. But how could they resist becoming  _ admins _ ? “Of course, boss!” Both grunts said, eyes gleaming as they rushed out of Guzma’s room, chattering to themselves about how they’d even begin fetching other patterns.

He laughed as he watched them leave, but he turned his head to look at the Vivillon, who looked scared and upset to be here. His face fell. “Hey, hey, you’re gonna  _ love _ it ‘ere with big bad Guzma,” He insisted, and paused to rummage through the pockets of his pants to find a little purple Poké Bean. He held it out to the bug. Vivillon tilted it’s head, then nervously fluttered it’s wings to scatter some more protective dust before flying over to the bean. It gave it a sniff, then nibbled it, swallowing. While the bug still seemed tentative, it still ate the bean out of Guzma’s hand, appearing to like it. Guzma gave a small smile. “See? Good, ain’t it? Ain’t so bad around here. An’ soon, you’ll get nineteen lil’ pals to be with, ain’t that cool?”

The Vivillon made a small sparkly-sounding noise. Guzma could only hope that that was approval.

 

~

 

Glowing with pride, a male grunt held something to his chest, rushing into the confines of Po Town. He looked around for a moment, then spotted the boss, currently engaged with berating a few grunts for sitting down on the job (“You’re s’posed to be  _ squatting _ , not  _ sittin’ with your knees up _ , don’t act like nobody’ll notice!”). The grunt grinned wide, rushing off to the boss. “Hey! Hey, Guzma, look at  _ this _ !”

Guzma let out a dramatic, heaving sigh, turning around and putting his hands on his hips. “Hey, hey, what are you doing!?” He snapped, “Don’cha see I’m  _ busy _ here!? This had better be good!”

“It is!” The grunt insisted before setting the thing down. He gestured to it with flourish, smiling wide...Though his smile fell when he saw Guzma looked less than impressed.

“It’s a  _ rock _ !?” Guzma was scowling, letting out an agitated exhale. “Listen, if  _ you _ wanna fight with a rock, you can, but  _ I _ deal with bugs! I thought you grunts preferred, I’unno, poison or psychic--”

“It’s  _ not _ a rock!” The grunt insisted, and while Guzma wasn’t thrilled with being interrupted, he shifted on his feet and let the grunt continue. The grunt went down on his haunches, squinting at the holey rock. He reached out, knocking on it a few times. The rock rattled a bit, and then slowly, four long yellow legs unfurled from within. A head poked through one of the top holes, blinking it’s black beady eyes and looking up at Guzma.

The boss tilted his head so far to the right his ear was almost resting on his shoulder. “...What  _ is _ it?”

“I nabbed it from some chump in the Pokémon Center!” The grunt stood up straight, grinning pridefully. “It’s called a Shuckle! It’s a  _ bug _ rock, so I couldn’t think of anything better for the best boss ever!”

“Nobody likes a suck-up,” Guzma remarked, but his head straightened up. “Does it  _ do _ anythin’ other than look at me with them dopey eyes?”

The grunt nodded enthusiastically, looking away and feeling through his pants before pulling out one Oran berry. “I saw the sucker put one’a these in it’s shell, see?” Guzma slowly nodded, and the grunt went down, sticking his hand into the bug’s shell. “Well, it don’t  _ stay _ a berry in here! Look at this!” With a small tug, the grunt yanked out a cup of Berry Juice. “And that ain’t  _ all _ I heard! Leave this juice in  _ even longer _ , the chump was sayin’, and you can make  _ Rare Candy _ ! Free Rare Candies out of  _ any berries _ ! Our team could be the strongest ever with all of those, boss!”

Free Rare Candies...Guzma may prefer just brute-forcing any situation he could, but a bug good at utilities like that couldn’t be denied. Besides, Berry Juice  _ was _ pretty delicious. “Alright, you’ve earned your place!” Guzma announced, reaching down and picking up the Shuckle. “We’ll stick a logo on your shell and you’ll be a member of Team Skull in no time! Even better than some’a my own grunts! Y’know, you guys could…” But when Guzma turned around, he realized the grunts he was berating before had turned tail and fled further reprimand from their boss. Guzma stared at the empty space, deadpan, before letting out an exhale and turning around to congratulate the grunt on finding and stealing the Shuckle...Only to realize he, too, had scampered off to do something else. “No respect!” Guzma snapped, gritting his teeth and grumbling to himself, though he looked over to the Shuckle and let out a tiny sigh. “Well, ‘least I got you. You ain’t gonna run away, right?” Shuckle just blinked, and Guzma tucked the bug under one arm, reaching his free hand over to rub it’s head. “Yeah. You’re gonna have a good time with Guzma. It’ll be alright, Shuckle, buddy.”

The Shuckle pulled it’s head back into it’s shell, and Guzma exhaled, shaking his head.

 

~

 

Three grunts laughed to themselves, clasping their haul to their chests. They’d struck it  _ big _ tonight, they just knew it. They paused for a moment in their running, counting out their prizes and attempting to divvy them out amongst themselves. Five fossils, three people. The single girl of the group made quick work grabbing the Sail fossil, one male took the Old Amber and shoved it into his hat, the girl and the second guy went into a fight over the Skull fossil and even though the boy ended up with more lumps on his head, he ended up the winner and got to keep the Skull fossil. That left two more fossils to be claimed, and one of them  _ had _ to go to Guzma, that was the rule…

“ _ Boss _ ! Boss, boss, boss!” The trio shouted, bursting into Po Town’s Pokémon Center. Guzma has all of his Pokémon, including some recent steals, meandering about; the boss himself affectionately petting his Ariados and feeding it a blue Poké Bean. He turned to the door with a glare, but the grunts didn’t seem to care about Guzma’s annoyance. 

“Okay,” Began the female, “So, we were hagin’ out by the docks, y’know, on--”

“ _ Hanging out _ ? You were nearly sleeping!” Interjected one of the males, crossing his arms. “Me an’ him were hangin’ out, and who decides to sail into town? A  _ ruin maniac _ !”

“I think it was a scientist,” Intoned the third male grunt, rolling his eyes.

The second male waved a dismissive hand. “Scientist, schmientist! The point is, all of us ganged up on him, and we managed to steal  _ five _ whole fossils!”

“Five?” While Guzma’s face was still relatively chill, the amazement in his tone was evident. “Well, ain’t that a haul! Which one’s for your bad ‘ole boss, then? Gimme a prize!”

The three of them took a quick look at each other, then suddenly all turned around and went into a huddle. They all muttered to each other, getting into a small squabble over the two remaining fossils, before the girl turned around and presented their boss the present. The other two male grunts went on either side of her, gesturing to the fossil with flourish, trying to make it as showy as possible. “For the greatest boss ever, Guzma, we present this!” She declared, and the two males made some trumpeting noises to hammer in the point.

Guzma burst out laughing (“ _ Man _ , you three are a  _ riot _ !”) before standing up with a grin, coming up and snatching the fossil out of the female grunt’s hands. For a long moment, he just stared at the fossil, a smile on his face. But slowly, his smile fell. “So, uh…” He turned to look at his grunts, “What kinda’ fossil is it?”

The grunts all paused, looking at each other with a note of panic in their eyes. They began to fight amongst themselves (“Didn’t  _ you _ steal the pamphlet!?” “ _ What _ pamphlet?” “Oh, come on, there’s gotta be--” “Wait, wait, I think it’s in my--”) until one of the male grunts pulled out a wrinkled bit of paper. The other two grunts crowded around, peering at the document. “It’s a Claw fossil,” Said one of the male grunts, “Uh, and it becomes-- _ Anna-rith? _ ”

“An- _ or _ -ith,” Corrected the other male with a frown.

“‘An- _ or _ -ith’,” The first male repeated mockingly before looking up from the crumpled paper and back at their boss. “ _ Anyway _ , it’s a fossil bug from Hoenn and it’s  _ probably _ really cool and tough. So you’re welcome, since I’m the one who found the guy--”

The female grunt went red in the face. “ _ What _ !? But I’m the one who threatened him to hand them over! He should be thanking  _ me _ !”

“I’m the one who beat him in the Pokémon battle!” The other male pushed the girl aside, and she gasped and slapped him, and the three grunts got into  _ another _ fight about who deserved the praise for finding this fossil, until it was broken up by Guzma.

“Enough!” He said, and the three grunts separated, backing off. “Clearly, you  _ all _ ain’t worthy of my praise if y’all keep suckin’ up like that! Now you three buzz off, an’ don’t come back ‘til you can figure out  _ who _ did all the work for this one!”

“Yes, boss…” The three of them said together, and they all turned away, leaving the Pokémon Center (though not without going into another fight over who would get the last fossil).

Guzma watched them go with a laugh before sitting back down on the floor, looking over to the left. “Hey, Shuckle!” He called, and the Shuckle poked it’s head and limbs out of it’s shell, coming closer to the boss. “Mind if I store this with ‘ya?” He asked, and the Shuckle shifted in it’s shell a little bit before nodding. Guzma smiled, shoving the Claw fossil into Shuckle’s shell. “It’s gonna be a good Anorith, I just know it!” He said, reaching out and rubbing the top of Shuckle’s head. “Jus’ like you’re a good Shuckle.” Then, in jealousy, his Ariados scuttled over and bumped his arm--“Yeah, yeah, you’re good too!”--And his Golisopod came up behind him and prodded the back of his neck--“Hey, I wasn’t about to leave  _ you _ out!”--And his Masquerain made a trilling vibrating noise, and his Pinsir clicked it’s spiked horns together--

“ _ Okay _ ! Okay! You’re all good bugs, an’ Guzma loves you all! Are y’all  _ happy _ now? Geez, all a buncha’  _ children. _ ”

 

~

 

“Guzma. Wake up.”

The Team Skull boss blinked a few times to get the crust out of his eyes, smacking his lips and looking up. Plumeria was looming above his bed, face serious as ever, one hand on her hip. “Hey- _ hey _ , Plumeria!” He said, but the jaunty tone he was going for was a bit lost with a half-yawn. Guzma pushed himself into a sitting position. “Whatcha’ doin’ so early? Told you not to wake me before one!”

She let out a small exhale, taking her eyes off of Guzma and looking over at the door. “Some grunts decided to organize something for you, and I didn’t want to keep those idiots waiting. You’d better get up and see what they want.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m going!” He snapped, shooing Plumeria out of his room with his hands. She was more than happy to oblige. Once she was gone, Guzma got out of bed, rubbing his face with his hands and getting dressed. He stuck his sunglasses on the top of his head and pushed open his door, grumbling to himself. What could these grunts have  _ planned _ ? He trudged down the stairs, running a hand through his hair and coming into the parlor of their large Po Town house--

“ _ HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GUZMA! _ ”

The Team Skull boss sputtered as all of his grunts cheered, whooped, and hollered. The parlor was a complete mess of paper streamers and star-shaped confetti, wrapping paper scraps tossed aside to be discarded, and a cake that looked sloppily frosted in white and gold. Guzma looked positively baffled by all this, and he looked over to the right to see Plumeria against a wall, smiling knowingly at her boss. He let out a laugh, shaking his head and putting his hands on his hips as he looked out to address the other grunts. “What’re you all doin’, gettin’ so sentimental over your boss? You’re all s’posed to be Team Skull members! None’a you should be gettin’ so sappy over  _ nothin’ _ , much less  _ me _ !” But even though he sounded angry, the grunts could all sense a teasing undertone, and they all gleefully cheered again to celebrate their boss.

There were presents, of course. Stolen Pokédolls of all species, a handful of mostly-useless contest accessories, a number of tickets to the Johto lottery (none of which were even remotely close to being winners), a Pokétch swiped off of someone’s wrist, and two female grunts were very proud to present a Pokéball-pattern Vivillon to be his friend. Guzma took every single gift with a grin, thanking the grunts with affectionate punches and noogies. Once all the gifts (well, all the ones that could be found in the mess) had been handed over, the grunts all decided it was time for cake, and a fight began to erupt amongst them all over who would be the one to cut Guzma’s cake.

Amongst the rabble, Plumeria came up beside Guzma, elbowing him to get his attention. He stuck out his tongue, rubbing at the sore spot and looking at Plumeria with a slight glare. She smiled and laughed before holding out an Ultra Ball with a red bow stuck onto the top. “Hey, don’t let anyone say I don’t appreciate my boss,” She said, shifting the ball in her hand to prompt him to take it.

Guzma smirked, taking the ball out of her hand, ripping off the bow, and tossing the useless decoration over his shoulder. He tossed the ball into the air, pressing the button in the middle and letting the Pokémon come out of the ball and fall into his hands.

It was a Venipede, giving a few small wiggles in his grasp. Guzma had seen these before--Plumeria had debated having one as a partner, having heard many good things about it’s later evolution Scolipede, but had decided against it since it since it was ‘too buggy’ and she ‘didn’t want to be  _ too _ much like her boss’ and ‘what if people thought they  _ associated _ with each other’ and other things like that. Guzma put on a giant smile, his thumb rubbing the back of the Venipede. “Aw, look, Plumeria  _ does _ care about me!”

“Don’t be so loud. They might think it’s  _ true _ ,” She jeered, but she let out a small chuckle. “Happy birthday, boss. Take good care of that guy, okay? I know some people in Unova and they say it’s worth it.”

“Me? Not take good care of a  _ bug _ ? Whadaya take me for, Plumeria?” He reached up, placing the bug atop of his head. The Venipede nestled into his hair, seeming content. “Now, let’s get workin’ on that cake! Or the grunts are gonna take it all…”

That made Plumeria snicker, and they began to make their way through the grunts in order to get to the cake. Something glinted, though, and distracted Guzma enough to make him stop walking. Amongst the clutter on the floor, there was a card. He leaned down and picked it up. It was made of heavy cardstock in a bright, pristine white, with gold lettering bidding him a happy birthday. When he opened it up, he found the logo for Team Skull’s partner, the Aether Foundation, along with a generic but nevertheless still appreciated message of cheer, and the signatures to all three major Aether Foundation members: Wicke, Faba, Lusamine; all in slightly sparkly and very careful calligraphy. He smiled, reaching one hand up and petting his new Venipede on the back. “Yeah, those’re our partners, newbie. They’re real cool.  _ Finally _ , someone in this Arceus-forsaken region appreciates my strength, y’know?”

At the bottom of the card, there was a breath mint taped on, with a little gold heart next to it to signify it was a present from Lusamine.

Guzma’s face fell almost comically, and he could have sworn the Venipede was laughing.

“...Eh, she’s a real character, that Lusamine is. Now quit your laughin’, or you ain’t gettin’ any cake, Venipede!”

 

~

 

Guzma had never considered type coverage in his teams. He liked his bugs, and they could beat anything that came in his way, and that was all he needed. But then  _ that kid _ showed up, the new kid from Kanto, the one always hanging around with Lillie and the kahuna’s kid--Hau, was that his name? The kid he couldn’t beat down, the kid who completely tore the Aether Foundation apart, the kid who he gave his lucky Dawn Stone to since they deserved it. Suddenly, type diversity seemed like a  _ good _ thing. After all, he could always prove his strength at that new Battle Tree thing, but he’d need the team to do it.

Since Team Skull was more or less a thing of the past, he’d been working on sending back all the Pokémon his grunts and he had stolen from other people. Usually, he could find the original trainer’s name carefully written on the insides of their Pokéballs, but in the case of the fossils he’d just tied them all up in a sack and left them in one of the Pokémon Centers with a note bearing the ruin maniac’s description and a ‘sorry’. Of course, he knew he was gonna miss those Vivillon, and the Shuckle, and whatever the Anorith would have been like, not to mention countless others. And he’d been surprised to find Plumeria’s own name inside the Venipede’s Pokéball, but he guessed it fit her, to catch it herself. But no matter what his feelings on the matter were, he had to send them back to their original trainers--it was just the right thing to do.

But don’t get it twisted, he’d written on every single card that he taped on every single Pokéball as an apology note. This  _ didn’t _ mean he was good or anything. Someone like Guzma could never be  _ good. _

Guzma didn’t know the first thing about building a team, but he figured it couldn’t be  _ much _ different than collecting his bug-types: just find what you like and work with it. How hard could it be? So he made it his mission to wander Alola’s four islands, to find something worth having on his new team.

He started like all new trainers did: Melemele Island. He wandered the routes up and down, sticking out his tongue at any passers-by who gave him looks. When Ilima wasn’t looking, he snuck into Verdant Cavern, hoping that because Ilima wasn’t there to oversee him, no trial would begin. He wasn’t up for any of that ‘island trial’ nonsense. The moonlight twinkled through the holes in the the top of the cavern, and Guzma scoured the area for anything good. There were Zubat (not his thing), Diglett (weird-lookin’ fellas), Rattata (greedy jerks)...Nothing  _ good _ , nothing  _ worthy _ of being on Guzma’s team. He let out an exhale, turning around to leave…

Something moved, just out of the corner of his eye.

Guzma whipped back around, his hand going to his jacket pocket, grabbing Golisopod’s Pokéball. “Who’s there!? Ilima?” He shouted, eyes darting back and forth. “I’m warnin’ you, I can still beat you down, no matter  _ who _ you are! So you better--”

And then he  _ saw _ it.

He wasn’t even sure  _ what _ it was. It didn’t look like any Pokémon he’d ever seen before. It was almost  _ glowing _ white, feminine in structure, with eyes staring right at him. It was tall, with antennae and ‘hair’ almost as transparent as bug wings, thin in structure, and--was it coming  _ towards _ him? It was, and it uncurled it’s fingers, reaching for  _ him _ .

He didn’t like it. He  _ did not _ like it. Not  _ only _ was it  _ another _ of those weird extradimensional  _ things _ , but something about the way it looked, the dimensions, the way it held itself...It reminded him of...Of…

For a moment, Guzma could feel his heart beating in his chest, and it felt like thick sludge was rolling through his veins.

Barely thinking, he reached down, scraping some dirt from the bottom of Verdant Cavern and throwing it at the beast for a diversion. The beast stopped coming closer to him as the dirt landed on it, and it almost froze, as though unable to take the impurities it could have. Guzma took that distraction as an invitation to run, and he dashed out of Verdant Cavern, only stopping to catch his breath after he was safely outside of the cave. He looked at one of his hands, making sure that creature hadn’t done anything to him. He let out an exhale upon realizing he still looked, and felt,  _ normal. _ Guzma put Golisopod’s Pokéball back in his jacket, and he shook his head, walking away from the cave.

He didn’t want to be around the Aether Foundation’s manipulative freak of a president again. And he didn’t want to get involved with creepy fear-inducing aliens again, either. So something of the latter that kinda looked like the former…

Well, he wasn’t going into Verdant Cavern again,  _ that _ was for sure.

 

~

 

One day, Guzma got a package on his doorstep.

He sat down in his chair, taking another swig from his mug of Tapu Cocoa, his mouth in a thin sideways frown. He hadn’t  _ ordered _ anything. His new team seemed interested in the box, too--his Liepard made a meowing noise and pawed at his knee, his Honchkrow ruffled it’s feathers and tilted it’s head in apparent interest, and his Golisopod came up to the side of his chair and looked at the box with curiosity in it’s eyes. He grumbled to himself, shooing away his Pokémon with a wave of a hand in order to get some more space as he read the tag on the box. From the champion of Alola, huh? That  _ kid _ ? Ugh, that kid sure was a real piece of work, sending someone like  _ him _ some gifts. “Hey!” He called, gesturing with his head, and his Bisharp came up to his chair, cutting off the tape on the box. He thanked it with some rubs on the head, and it seemed pleased. 

There was a card on the top of the packaging peanuts, and he took a moment to look it over. Apparently, that kid had been ‘looking around a while for this’ and ‘thought he would appreciate it’, not to mention that apparently he ‘deserved it’ for ‘trying to be better’, which made him laugh. That old loon Hala might be trying to  _ train _ him or whatever, but he wasn’t  _ trying _ to be better. What part of ‘Guzma is always terrible’ didn’t that kid  _ get _ ? Nevertheless, he set the card aside and began rummaging through the packaging peanuts for the present.

It was a Heal Ball.

A  _ Heal Ball _ , of all things. How lame could you get, catching a Pokémon in one of  _ these _ ?

After a minute to laugh about how the champion of Alola was going around catching things in  _ Heal Balls _ , he pushed the box off of his lap and onto the floor before pressing the button in the middle of the ball. In a flash of light, it’s contents came out, falling onto his lap.

A Wimpod.

Not a standard Wimpod, though. It wasn’t purple and lightish blue. It was a red and pinkish color, and for a moment, it seemed to sparkle a little, as though to draw more attention to itself.

He’d heard about these.  _ Shiny _ Pokémon. Finding one of these things was rarer than seeing a Manaphy poke it’s head above the sea. Guzma blinked a couple times in surprise, as though he couldn’t believe this thing was right here with him. The Wimpod twitched it’s eyes back and forth, shivering, scared from seeing so many big and strong Pokemon in the same area as itself; and it began to almost bury itself into Guzma’s pants in an attempt to hide.

“I’m nothin’ but a jerk to this kid, and they go out an’ get me a  _ shiny _ ,” His tone was almost a little surprised, but he shook his head and reached a hand down to pet the shiny Wimpod’s back. “Hey, c’mon. There, there. Ain’t nothin’ gonna hur’cha here. You’re with big bad Guzma now! If anyone gives ‘ya a bad time, I’ll beat ‘em so far down, they’ll be face-to-face with Hetran in the earth’s core!” Guzma shot the Wimpod a huge grin. 

The bug shifted, it’s eyes rolling up to look at Guzma’s face. Then it looked out at all the other Pokémon, so much larger than it. Toxapex gave it a wave. Bisharp saluted to the bug. Pinsir closed it’s eyes and gave a giant smile. The Wimpod shifted, looking behind itself to see Golisopod, who seemed enthusiastic to have another one of it’s kind around.

The Wimpod gave a happy trill.

“Well, if nothin’ else, that kid sure knows what I like,” Guzma affectionately rubbed the Wimpod, and the bug let out another trill. Guzma stood up, carrying the bug up to his table before setting it down. He pulled out a couple beans--the fancy, decorated ones--and held them out for the Wimpod to eat. It sniffed them, then began chowing down. “And  _ I  _ sure know what Wimpod like! Yeah, I guess you can stick around. Ain’t gonna battle with someone like you, though. Y’can hang with my buddy Scolipede, m’kay?” The Wimpod nodded (as best a Wimpod could), and Guzma nodded back, pleased. However, the sight of the fancier beans caught the attention of his other Pokémon, and in just a moment Guzma was surrounded on all sides by members of his new team.

He laughed.

“ _ Geez _ ! You guys are no better than the  _ grunts _ ! Okay, okay, beans for everyone, and--Liepard, how’d ‘ya get your fur all messed up? I  _ told _ you guys, we gotta look good for when we make our premier at the Battle Tree! Ugh, I’ll brush ‘ya, don’cha worry about it…”

His Pokémon were all pleased from the attention and the food.

Guzma made a mental note to thank that kid, whenever he saw them again.

...Not that saying ‘thanks’ would make him a  _ good person  _ or anything.

**Author's Note:**

> Huh? Something that isn't an ancient Homestuck fanfic?
> 
> So, yeah. I loved the new Pokémon generation, and I loved Guzma, so have some silly fluff with Guzma and bugs. Hope you like it!


End file.
